A night at The Palace (Detroit) with Queen

I have seen a lot of concerts over the past decade or two. But, it's not every day that I get to see a band so legendary, so unbelievably massive as Queen, who performed at The Palace of Auburn Hills near Detroit this month.

With the obvious absence of the late Freddie Mercury, Queen got quite possibly the best available stand-in to put a voice to their songs - Adam Lambert. While Freddie is completely irreplaceable, Adam undeniably has the vocal talent, the stage presence, the confidence, the charisma and the "camp" mastery to ensure that the show go on ... because it must.

It has been more than 20 years since Freddie Mercury tragically passed away, but original Queen band members Brian May (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums) have kept the band, and Freddie's memory, alive through performances with singers such as Paul Rodgers (2004-2009) and most recently, Adam Lambert. At The Palace, the band played a 27-song set that started just a few minutes after 8 p.m. (no opening act needed) with "Now I'm Here;" from the moment the opening chords played and Adam's voice sang "Here I stand," I had chills. Those chills continued for the more than two hour show as the band played one of the best songs of all time, following by another one of the best songs of all time, and another and another.To hear songs like "Somebody to Love," "Killer Queen," and (!) "Bohemian Rhapsody" (shout out to the 20-something guy in the row behind me wearing a Wayne's World hat. I see what you did there) live is just an other worldly experience.

And while Freddie was physically absent, he was there in spirit throughout the show, like when Brian May sang lead vocals on "Love of My Life" with a tape of Freddie playing behind him. And when Adam performed a "duet" of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Freddie. If you closed your eyes, you could almost believe Freddie was in the room.